Clockwise from top: Senior Counsel Louis P. Petrich, Donald Gordon, Vincent Cox and Of Counsel Robert S. Gutierrez Ballard Spahr in Los Angeles 

Philadelphia-based Ballard Spahr has expanded its media and entertainment practice on the West Coast by adding seven attorneys from Century City-rooted law firm Leopold, Petrich & Smith.

After more than half a century of doing business in Century City, Leopold Petrich announced on its website that it has joined forces with Ballard Spahr, aiming "to create a powerhouse team with an expanded presence in Los Angeles."

The seven attorneys that joined Ballard Spahr's Los Angeles office are Louis Petrich, Donald Gordon, Vincent Cox, Robert Gutierrez, Daniel Mayeda, Elizabeth Schilken, and Loralee Sundra. Petrich, Gordon, Cox, Gutierrez and Mayeda were members at Leopold Petrich, while Sundra was of counsel and Schilken is an associate.

At Ballard Spahr, Petrich, Gordon and Cox will be senior counsel, and Gutierrez will be of counsel. The others' titles will be "attorney," the firm said.

Petrich said Leopold Petrich has been searching for a bigger firm partner since it recently downsized due to multiple retirements.

"It's gone on for 64 years, I was with it for 54 years," he said. He said his group was familiar with some lawyers from Levine Sullivan in New York.

"They came to us and suggested that we should talk to Ballard," Petrich said.

After talking with Ballard Spahr for about a year, Petrich said, the firm's attorneys eventually decided to join Ballard Spahr's Los Angeles office, which is located in the building just next door to where Leopold Petrich's office was.

All of the attorneys, which are experienced in copyright, trademark and infringement, have litigated landmark intellectual property and First Amendment cases, according to Ballard Spahr. Their clients include film studios, production companies, television networks, insurance providers and music producers.

Over the years, they have represented companies including Paramount Pictures, NBCUniversal and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.

"Expanding our practice in Los Angeles has been a strategic priority, and our new colleagues bring great skill to cutting-edge IP litigation and rights clearance projects at a time of increased demand for that work," David Bodney, co-leader of Ballard Spahr's media and entertainment law group, said in a statement. "The issues facing our clients are more complex than ever, and the stakes have never been higher. We're delighted to add such a strong group of lawyers to the team."

The group's addition is the second major investment in Ballard Spahr made in media and entertainment law practice. In the fall of 2017, the firm had acquired media law boutique Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz, adding 25 lawyers from the Washington, D.C.-based firm.

Ballard Spahr now has 57 attorneys dedicated to the media and entertainment practice, working across 13 of the firm's 15 offices.

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